The Joseph Experience – The End. 07 Series

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Homework: Did anyone seek God about plans for their life?

Did you lay hands on yourself like Paul was going to do for Timothy?

I know everyone is reading along with the Joseph story at home. I won’t ask. I believe the best of everyone!

We’ll be breezing through a lot of this story, because we have a lot to cover this week. It doesn’t mean that it’s not important, it just doesn’t pertain to what we’re looking at for this series, but I want to encourage you to read the entire story in one sitting to see the bigger picture. Back to the story….

Genesis 46 NKJV

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

46So Israel (Jacob) took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

Beersheba was owned by the Philistines. Abraham lived there, dug a (famous) well, and made a covenant with Abimelech concerning the well, which is still there to this day. Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of the Lord. Eventually this land would be owned by the tribe of Simeon and then taken over by the tribe of Judah. Jacob stopping here to honor the Lord and his grandfather’s covenant to the Lord caused God to speak to him. For us, we can learn from Jacob that stopping what you’re doing and where you’re going to honor the Lord will result in Him leading and guiding you.

(2)And he said, “Here I am.” 3So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.”

There’s a lot of information packed in here. Yes, God made them a great nation there! God also told Jacob, I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you up again. Wait a min! This never happened. Jacob stands in front of the pharaoh at 130 years old and dies at 147. That’s 17 years later. Did God lie, change His mind, or did Jacob not want to leave the land of Goshen? Certainly, it’s never in God’s plan to do evil or harm (Jeremiah 29:11). They veered off God’s path again. God is not a liar. The final promise of God was, “Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” This was an ancient middle eastern practice, to close the eyes of the dead, and it was an honor to be asked to perform it.

The Bible goes on to say that Jacob went to Egypt and gives us the names and number of all those traveling. Jacob arrives in Goshen and sees Joseph. They have an emotional moment. Joseph plans to have the family settle in the best part of Egypt, the most fertile, away from the Egyptians in the land Goshen.

Genesis 47 NKJV

5 …Pharaoh replies to the request, 6”The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”

Not only is he giving them the best of the land, but also employing them, as in paying them too! Now we’re starting to see why Jacob didn’t want to leave.

7Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

This is a funny question. Pharaoh sees an old man and that’s his first question! But it’s because the Egyptians didn’t live long. They had a host of diseases, sicknesses, and suffered from malnutrition because they were demon worshipers and lived without God’s blessing. If you Google the average age of ancient Egyptians during this time period, you’ll see an average age range from 20-25 at this time. The reason was because most children died, lowering the average age. The average person who made it past 10 years old would live 30-40 years; the wealthy lived 40-50 years during this time period, and few lived past their 50s. This means that the Pharaoh that killed the baker, saved the butler, and made Joseph second in command over all of Egypt was likely just a teenager or very young man himself at the time. Being quite young, he was probably even more amazed at Joseph’s wisdom than what we realize. This paints an entirely different picture for us when we think, “Oh wow, they put a 39-year-old in charge of the entire country.” When in fact Joseph was the age of wisemen and elders.